Now that I’ve looked back at what I accomplished in 2022, it’s time to set some goals to aim for in 2023! I have decided to keep them quite varied, and not all about hitting faster paces and further distances, and hopefully working towards them with the help of my running coach will make for an interesting year!
That being said, I do have one big speed goal that I am hoping to tick off this year, and that is running a sub 2 hour half marathon. I’ve come pretty close a couple of times before and it has been a goal I’ve been aiming for pretty much since I ran my first ever half marathon in 2:03:20. I was lucky enough to receive a place in the London Landmarks Half ballot, so I’m looking forward to having my first half marathon PB attempt of the year there in April.
My next goal is to run another marathon. After being disappointed with how I coped mentally with my first marathon attempt last year in Brighton, I would love to run 26.2 miles this year feeling both mentally and physically stronger than in 2022. My ‘A’ goal will be to finish in under 5 hours, but I would be happy to run any PB time and finish with a smile on my face. I’ll start officially training for Edinburgh marathon at the beginning of February!
Of course, I am also setting myself a couple of parkrun goals this year, to hopefully complete with my little running buddy before he gets too big! Having visited nine new locations in 2022, taking my current total to 21, I hope to match that with some more parkrun tourism in 2023 and visit my 30th location. I’m hoping to visit a few more relatively local ones around Hampshire and Dorset, but maybe I’ll venture further afield for some too.
It would be an absolute dream to run a buggy parkrun PB somewhere along our parkrun journey in 2023, as it’s been over a year since I ran my current one, but I am definitely aware that Max will only continue to get taller and heavier as the weeks go on!
I ran a lot of parkruns in 2022, and was chuffed to finally run a new PB at Poole in October after over three years since my last one, but I haven’t run a 5k race (or earned a medal for that distance!) since before I had Max. So another goal for this year will be to enter and run at least one 5k - of course to get a PB would be wonderful, but I’m also keen to keep my racing distances varied.
My last goal for 2023 is to officially pace a race. Hopefully a 10k as that has always been my favourite distance - so watch this space!
It would be the icing on the cake to run 2023 kilometres in 2023, but that would mean increasing my mileage a fair amount this year, which I’m not sure is completely realistic. I was really happy to run over 1000 miles last year, so if I reach that milestone again it will be another great year of running!
So there we have it - a variety of goals to work towards over the next twelve months, hopefully with a few surprises thrown in too. What are your goals for 2023? Let me know in the comments.
To read more of my previous blog posts, including my recent 2022 recap, click here. Or click here to read more about my postpartum running journey.
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